Caught My Eye - 09/01/08

Internet and Stupidity - What's the connection?

This discussion seems to be the buzz right now - Is the Internet making us stupid or not? I tend to believe not as I explained in the earlier post on the same topic.

The Critics Need a Reboot. The Internet Hasn't ...
On the contrary: The explosion of knowledge represented by the Internet and abetted by all sorts of digital technologies makes us more productive and gives us the opportunity to become smarter, not dumber.

I agree completely.

29 Marbles / The internet doesn’t make people stupid…

If we do find ourselves in a new dark ages, it won’t be caused by the internet. It will be caused by people. (Of course, the internet will be there to document it all ;-)

These lines capture it the best! :)

Turning Diaries to Blogs.

Here are two interesting blogs that document the diaries of people from a different era. They are both posted in real-time, with just the year changing. What also seems interesting to me is that one of them is a World War I soldier's experiences, while the other one is George Orwell's experiences and thoughts, who was a political commenter during World War II!
Do you know of more such diaries that have been turned into blogs?


WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier

This blog is made up of transcripts of Harry Lamin's letters from the first World War. The letters will be posted exactly 90 years after they were written. To find out Harry's fate, follow the blog!

This blog is a collection of letters Harry Lamlin wrote to his siblings. I've just started reading it, and it seems to be very interesting, more like a story than a collection of essays.

About « THE ORWELL PRIZE

Orwell’s ‘domestic’ diaries begin on 9th August 1938/2008; his ‘political’ diaries (which are further categorised as ‘Morocco’, ‘Pre-war’ and ‘Wartime’) begin on 7th September 1938/2008.

I have to confess, I haven't read Orwell's work before. The domestic diaries are a little dull. I'm sure the "political" ones will be the ones to watch out for.

Language Pointers

Language Log » Hillary unwavers?

If a desert island is uninhabited by humans, it doesn't follow that humans uninhabit it. Likewise, if half the money was unaccounted for, that doesn't mean that anyone unaccounted for it. And you can say that someone's support was unwavering, but you can't say that it unwavered.

It's easy to fall into these traps. There have been several instances when I've commented or changed something a writer has written, but haven't been able to exactly describe why it is wrong. You know the the times when you know something doesn't read right, but you're not sure why? These "un" words used as verbs fall into that category for me. And this article has thrown some light on the why.

CJR: Comma Suture
“Seldom has the distinction between a restrictive and a nonrestrictive clause been more important,” wrote Dean Mills, who happens to be the dean of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

I'm someone who struggles with getting the commas in the right place everyday. And I sometimes feel that it's much ado about nothing (well almost). I mean how much of the audience cares about a serial comma. It should be okay as long as the meaning is clear. But this, evidently, is an instance where the humble comma makes all the difference.